Fact-checking by @AFP. Official account of the world's biggest network of fact checkers. Also on Instagram: @AFPFactCheck
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Despite stubbornly high crime rates in South Africa, claims that a video showing a foiled business robbery caught on CCTV in the country are false. The dramatic incident took place at a bakery in Mexico in 2023
u.afp.com/SCjJ
Albertans roundly rejected a future binding independence referendum. More ballots were cast on that issue than the other nine immigration and constitutional questions put to voters, but contrary to claims online, this is not evidence of election fraud u.afp.com/SCKG
ALT Voters leave a polling place in Edmonton, Alberta
⚠️ Beware of fabricated graphics that appear to show Angus Reid projecting high support for Alberta separation.
The polling firm never published any data corresponding to this image u.afp.com/SCzr
ALT Screenshot of an X post with a red x across it to indicate the claim is false
🇨🇦 The cause of the deadly fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright remains under investigation, but this clip of a massive explosion is unrelated. It was first published in August in connection to a blast at an arms factory outside Rome u.afp.com/SCEd
🇳🇬 Nigeria’s President Tinubu did not award ally Gilbert Chagoury a $7 billion port deal. Tinubu witnessed the signing of a non-binding MoU between DP World and Ogun State, not a final concession. DP World says Chagoury is not a shareholder.
Read more: u.afp.com/TinubuDeal
US influence, AI and mistrust cloud Alberta independence vote u.afp.com/SChF
ALT A red truck flying the Alberta flag circles a separatist event in Medicine Hat, southwestern Alberta
Supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan rallied in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in October 2026, but a video purportedly showing protesters setting a building ablaze actually shows protests in Nepal in 2025.
u.afp.com/SCWr
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court reinstated a prison sentence for hardline monk Gnanasara, prompting protests by his supporters. But this circulating image purportedly showing monks marching in protest was generated using AI.
u.afp.com/SCsy
Claims that a Cleveland Clinic study found the risk of contracting influenza increases after getting the shot misrepresent the findings of a paper which has yet to be peer-reviewed u.afp.com/SChC
Wildfires in Indonesia have shrouded parts of the region in toxic haze, but satellite imagery and Malaysian authorities indicate a circulating map exaggerates the scale of the fires. We also found it was generated with AI. u.afp.com/SCQW
🌀 No human-made technology is capable of creating or redirecting hurricanes.
Despite their near-simultaneous development, meteorologists say tropical systems Isaias, Rachel and Simon resulted from natural weather conditions u.afp.com/SChy
🇪🇹 Old clips of Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed are being misrepresented as recent visits to Tigray amid the latest conflict. One was filmed in Amhara in 2021, the other at a cultural event in Addis Ababa in 2019.
Read more: u.afp.com/AbiyMekelle
🗳️ Recycled misleading claims stoke election concerns ahead of Alberta referendum u.afp.com/SCdC
ALT Separatists waves the Alberta flag by the roadside during an event advocating for Alberta's separation from Canada in Dunmore
President Donald Trump attributed a quote exalting him to American actor Denzel Washington, but the purported statement is fabricated.
Near-identical posts have falsely attributed the same quote to everyone from Matthew McConaughey to Pope Leo XIV u.afp.com/SCMK
A newspaper front page from 2006 is circulating in Nigeria, featuring what appears to be a report on presidential candidate Peter Obi revealing how he was "cured of madness". However, the original was altered by incorporating Obi's name and image u.afp.com/SCN7
Old videos purportedly showing the recent student protests in France are being shared in a false context. We found the clips were actually filmed in Paris during a 2022 protest and as PSG fans celebrated in 2026 u.afp.com/SCw6
Social media users shared an infographic bearing the logo of Malaysia's Election Commission falsely claiming key dates for Malacca's state election had been rescheduled. But the new dates were fabricated, while the commission dismissed the false claim. u.afp.com/SCU6
Meteorologist retracts AI-hallucinated map of Hurricane Isaias u.afp.com/SCiv
ALT Accurate storm projections? FALSE
🇪🇹 Amid the renewed conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region, images shared online claiming to show Ethiopian soldiers on the streets of the regional capital Mekelle are AI-generated.
Read more: u.afp.com/Mekelle
